Hexham's M1 Motorway expansion is a big win, but our roads need little ones too
by Letters to the Editor · Newcastle HeraldSHARE YOUR OPINION
Email letters@newcastleherald.com.au or send a text to 0427 154 176 (include name and suburb). Letters should be fewer than 200 words. Short Takes should be fewer than 50 words. Disclose political party roles or affiliations. Correspondence may be edited in any form.
The M1 extension is a brilliant bipartisan achievement ("A once- in-a-lifetime walk on the nearly finished M1 to Raymond Terrace extension", Newcastle Herald 16/8). Well done, and ahead of schedule. We trust there is enough bitumen left to fill all our potholes and reconstruct collapsing major and minor roads in Port Stephens.
Brian Watson-Will, Corlette
Aged care profiteering hurts after life of service
As a 96-year-old who is receiving an aged care package, I watch with interest the recent ABC Four Corners program. I am in increasing need for care as my mobility deteriorates.
Coupled with this need is the fact that I have been an active member of the Labor Party for over 60 years, so the fact that government policy that affects me adversely is particularly sad to me.
I live in an aged community that provides government-funded care to residents who are qualified for aged care packages. Over the years I have seen the cost of the services increase extravagantly. A cleaner has gone from $70 an hour to $120 an hour, but the cleaner gets only $38 of that $120 and the provider takes the rest. I recently had to go to Newcastle for an eye specialist. The taxi quoted me $400 to go, wait for me for an hour and bring me home. The provider insisted that I go with their support and charged me $580 for the service, and 10 per cent on top of that.
I believe there's no way of getting competitive prices because all providers within this area seem to have a similar price range, and there is no restriction by government on what they can charge for a service. On top of the cost of getting to their service, the doctor also charges $500 for the appointment. From these examples you can see that my care budget is under stress as I get older and need more services.
It is ironic that in 1930, following the death of our mother, I together with my older brother and sister were taken into care by the nuns at St Patrick's Orphanage in Armidale. That example of care inspired all of us to make our contributions to our communities, with my beloved sister being awarded two Orders of Australia and a nomination for Senior of the Year. My brother became a much-loved obstetrician and I have received an OAM for services to the community.
Now that I may need assistance, I find the aged are regarded as a profit station thanks to John Howard who put a price on our head contrary to the spirit of care as provided by the nuns.
Frank Ward, Shoal Bay
Transition costs the grandkids too
A recent contributor to this page ("Ramifications over generations", Letters, 20/8), lamented that Baby Boomers thinking about voting for One Nation will not be thanked by their grandchildren, who will have to deal with the consequences of human-induced climate change.
I'm afraid under Labor the horse has already bolted in regard to the future of our grandchildren. They will be paying back in higher taxes a national debt of now $1 trillion mostly being spent on unreliable renewables that are forcing industries to close down and creating less jobs.
Their natural environment will be cluttered with decrepit solar panels, rusty wind turbines and exploding old batteries and they will have to support their grandparents who are unable to pay their bills because money for community support has run out.
Labor's push for net zero will certainly change their lives. Meanwhile, the smart countries are ignoring net zero and improving their living standards. Go figure who are the lucky countries.
John Cooper, Charlestown
House is no home without a family
The Labor party appears to be rather anxious and defensive regarding superannuation being used to get a start in life to purchase a home. This would not go well with union managed super funds that support the Labor style of government. Yes, super gives a return on investment over a period of time, but what is more important; the future or the present?
Some say unless the present provides for the future, there will be no future.
That's a fair comment, but how can any one even imagine a future when they can't afford a house to have a family that would be part of the future?
It's my opinion that this Labor Party and its supporters have a lot to answer for the mess Australia is in at present. Whether a change of government would be any better, who knows? But I'd say it can't get much worse when investment for the future is needed to pay for the present.
Shame on you, Albo and co., you should have known better than to follow the footsteps of Australia's greatest treasurer. You know, the one who gave us the recession that we had to have.
Carl Stevenson, Dora Creek
We're the lucky country no more
There's an old saying: "to be a successful politician one needs to be a liar or a hypocrite, and preferably both". With all the goings-on lately, is it any wonder that politicians are, generally speaking, held in such low esteem?
There has been rorting of travel allowances, digging up dirt on the opposite side, and just generally carrying on like a bunch of school kids in Parliament. Albo and Jimbo have been telling us that they are taking steps to reduce the cost of living when it's going up all the time, and meanwhile Blackout Bowen is living in fairyland with his net-zero ideology that's making using electricity almost a luxury rather than a necessity due to the ever-increasing cost.
With so many people doing it really tough, and so many businesses going to the wall, we in Australia are no longer the lucky country.
Ian King, Warners Bay
Slashing super? Start with pollies
I am sure conservative politicians who do not believe in superannuation, or at least its preservation, will be happy to donate their superannuation back to the taxpayer. This hypocrisy reminded me of Peter Reith's use of the politics of envy to criticise the Maritime Union of Australia for having the best superannuation conditions. Not true. It was he and his fellow politicians who did.
Marvyn Smith, Heddon Greta
'Racist' saga provided prominence
Regarding the concerns raised by artist Osvaldo Budet of "hurtful / racist images" ("It's racist": artist takes hitching post debate to the source", Herald 20/8): had anyone heard of this person before he raised his perceived issues? Well, they have now. Another dose of virtue signaling.
Shane Tull, Redhead
Renewables right move on power
In the past year the wholesale electricity price for NSW sat around an average $84.40 per megawatt of power. From memory that is the lowest NSW wholesale price in 15 years, and the low price is due to renewables and batteries. Households would have cheaper electricity if retailers passed on the cost savings, but the NSW electricity set-up was privatised. It shows Labor got it right with renewables.
Agner Sorensen, Teralba
International law a toothless tiger
Where was international law, when the USA bombed a children's school in Iran, blockaded Cuba, and kidnapped Venezuela's president? Australia's silence gives consent to these crimes. Yeah, all the way with the USA, what a mob of puppets.